By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
A coalition of neighborhood groups which wants to ban short-term rentals in parts Lincoln County said Tuesday it will hold off filing petition signatures to put the issue on the May ballot so the county can continue working to revise its regulations.
Instead, the 15neighborhoods group said it will hold back signatures to possibly place its initiative before voters in November.
“The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners continues to consider a variety of innovative options to revise short-term rental regulations, stating their objective of completing their review and decision process by June,” the group said in a statement. “It is our desire that the ballot measure not impede their efforts.”
The 15neighborhoods group had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to submit more than 1,454 petitions and signatures to the county clerk’s office to get on the May 18 ballot. It would not say how many signatures it has collected.
The group’s initiative would ask voters throughout the county to phase out vacation rentals in single-family zoned areas of unincorporated Lincoln County over five years.
A vacation rental industry group called ViaOregon formed to oppose the initiative, should it get on the ballot, and mobilize rental owners and managers to state their case to county commissioners.
On Tuesday, Via Oregon issued a statement thanking county residents “for choosing a healthy economy and neighborhood jobs over hyperbole and Nimbyism” and saying that shutting down short-term rentals “would be catastrophic.”
County slow to revise regulations
The 15neighborhoods group started its effort last summer after county commissioners could not complete their revamping of short-term rental regulations because of the coronavirus pandemic and then wildfires. It missed a deadline last August to get on the November 2020 ballot, but has a two-year window to gather enough signatures to force a countywide vote.
Because of coronavirus restrictions, it can’t gather signatures in public but must have people interested in signing one download a paper copy, sign it and mail it to them, or have a group volunteer pick it up. The electronic petition gathering is the first such effort in Lincoln County.
“We remain committed to pursuing remedies to restore and maintain residential neighborhood integrity, character and livability, to increase available housing for our working families, to support the environmental health and safety of Lincoln County residents, and to improve the enforcement of our codes and ordinances in unincorporated Lincoln County, in our residential neighborhoods,” the 15neighborhoods group said in its statement.
County commissioners have extended a more than year-old moratorium on new short-term rental licenses until June 1, saying they would finish work on tighter regulations by then. The county held the first of two planned workshops in January, but has not yet scheduled a second.
County Counsel Wayne Belmont, who has been directing the county’s work on short term rentals, said staff is working in several areas so it can present a specific set of options to the community and board to review.
Once the staff work is done, “we will go back out into the community for additional input and public review – a second workshop and more if needed — of those specific options and that proposed language,” Belmont said in an email to YachatsNews.
In its statement to YachatsNews, Via Oregon said it believes the “way forward for Lincoln County is a thriving economy, mutual respect for both residents and visitors, and embracing and protecting Lincoln County’s historical role as a destination and provider of short term lodging.”
“VIA Oregon remains committed to responsible short-term rental hosting that benefits the community and brings much-needed revenue into our economy,” it said. “We are open to, and welcome cooperation with, any group seeking to work for the mutual good of the community, versus divisive actions that benefit only the affluent few.”
